Michael Langan MD

Having dedicated his working life to addressing the health concerns of women and guiding babies into the world, Dr. Michael Joseph Langan (Mike) died peacefully on November 22 during a rehab stay at The Nathaniel Witherell in Greenwich, CT due to complications from a stroke three weeks earlier. A cancer survivor, he suffered from vascular dementia in recent years.

Mike was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 24, 1922, to an Irish-American father and a French mother. At that time, his father was working for a British firm in Rio and Sao Paolo. When Mike was five, his parents decided that he and his younger brother, Lucien, should grow up in the US. Mike had learned to speak the native Portuguese, his mother’s French, and a little of his father’s English. Voyages to Britain and France in his early years sparked a love for travel and adventure that eventually took Mike to over sixty countries around the world, many of them multiple times.

A graduate of Flushing High School, NY, and Manhattan College, Mike went on to Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons for his MD degree as part of the V-12 program of the United States Navy. Just 22 years old when he finished medical school, he interned at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, and then was called to active duty as a Lieutenant JG, assigned first to St. Albans Naval Hospital in Queens, NY and then to Midway Island in the Pacific. Returning stateside, he did two years of residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, separated by a one-year recall to active duty during the Korean War. He then completed his training with a third year of residency at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.

In June, 1953, Mike came to Greenwich, CT to partner with Dr. Payson Ayres, an early practitioner of natural childbirth. Later Mike established a solo practice, which grew to become Brookside Obstetrics & Gynecology Associates. He retired in December, 1995, and was named Emeritus Senior Attending Physician in the OB/GYN department at Greenwich Hospital. The practice he founded continues today as Brookside Gynecology. Mike championed the Lamaze and Leboyer methods of natural childbirth, and encouraged breast feeding and good nutrition for new mothers. He was influential in keeping maternity care at Greenwich Hospital and in the establishment of private birthing rooms there. He valued each of his patients and was genuinely interested in their concerns.

Mike was a member of the American Medical Society, the Fairfield County Medical Society, the American College of OB/GYN, the American College of GYN Laporoscopists, and the American College of Fertility and Sterility. He served his medical school for many years as chair of his 1946 class and as a member of the Alumni Council. He also served as president of the Westchester Obstetrical Society.

Locally, Mike was a member of the Horseneck Club, the Retired Men’s Association and Greenwich Research Partners, an investment club. He also was a member of the Belle Haven Club where he served on committees supporting swimming and boating. For many years, he enjoyed boating on Long Island Sound, having learned to sail as a young man in Bayside, Long Island. In later years, he enjoyed captaining his trawler, “Miss Conception,” to distant harbors on Long Island and to ports along the Hudson River.

With an extensive vocabulary, bolstered by knowledge of several languages including Latin, he enjoyed speeding through the NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle in ink. He excelled in the sports he learned as a young man at the local YMCA – ping pong, pool, and swimming – which he passed on to his children and grandchildren, as well as his love of tennis which he enjoyed as long as he was physically able, especially doubles. He read extensively in a variety of fields, and loved New York theater, dance, and art. He had an eye for beauty in the natural world and in hand-made crafts, with a special interest in wooden bowls. He read every label in every museum he visited, and retained information in an encyclopedic fashion.

Mike encouraged his family to pursue their passions. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Kathleen (Kay) Holman Langan, as well as by six of his seven children: Meg Moore (John) of Reston, VA, Ellen Langan (Steve Krafchick) of Seattle, WA, Katie Langan Santee (Kevin) of Mamaroneck, NY, Betsy Dell of Roseville, CA, Bob Langan (Margot) of Portland, OR and Stephen Langan (Kathy) of Bedford, NH, as well as his daughter-in-law Candace Langan of Jamestown, RI, and 12 grandchildren: Kevin Moore, Tom Langan, Annie Langan, Ana Krafchick, Michael Santee, Tyler Santee, Guy Santee, Jack Dell, Kay Dell, Will Langan, Mary Kate Langan and Connor Langan. He was predeceased by his parents, Martin Vincent Langan and Raymonde Faye Langan, his brother, Lucien Langan, his son, Bill Langan, and his son-in-law, Roger Dell.

A service of remembrance and celebration of life will be held on Saturday, December 6 at 11 am at Christ Church Greenwich, where Mike and Kay are members.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be given in Mike’s name to Christ Church Greenwich, 254 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830 or to Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 630 West 168th Street, P & S 2-421, New York, NY 10032. Online condolences may be made by visiting wwwleopgallaghergreenwich.com